Arman Tsarukyan Out To Cement Top Contender Status

Tsarukyan’s absence from competition underscores how quickly things can change in a division, as the landscape he returns to on Saturday is very different than how it looked at the UFC’s tricentennial last year or even at the beginning of 2025 when he was readying to challenge for the lightweight title.

Islam Makhachev still carries gold, but now it’s the welterweight title. In June, Ilia Topuria claimed the throne in the 155-pound weight division, defeating Charles Oliveira for the vacant title at UFC 317. Some familiar contenders remain in the thick of the title hunt, while others, like Paddy Pimblett, have forced their way into the conversation, creating uncertainty about what will happen next at the top of the talent-rich weight class.

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“Ilia became a champ, but I wish Islam stayed in our division, because he doesn’t [run] from the fight,” Tsarukyan said when asked about the complexion of the division as he readies to return. “He took a contender fight, not like Ilia trying to get easy fights, fight with WWE fighter like Paddy Pimblett.

“I wish Islam was the champ,” he added. “We need a real champion in our division who is not going to escape fights and fight with real contenders.”

Ultimately, Tsarukyan wants to be that champion but first he must contend with Hooker this weekend at ABHA Arena.

The main event combatants have taken jabs at each other on social media repeatedly over the last several years, with accusations of fight dodging and shots at the New Zealand man’s frailty lobbed by Tsarukyan, with Hooker frequently firing back with promises of violence and barbs about his opponent’s more affluent upbringing.

When Hooker was forced out of his UFC 313 showdown with Justin Gaethje earlier this year, Tsarukyan was quick to poke the bear, suggesting that “The Hangman” has glass hands, drawing a response from Hooker that is a little too NSFW to reprint here.

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When asked about the friction between the two, the Armenian contender smiled and fought back a chuckle, but opted only to address Hooker’s skills, rather than the simmering beef between them.

“He’s a good fighter,” began Tsarukyan, who has earned four straight victories and posted a 9-1 mark inside the Octagon since dropping his promotional debut to Makhachev in a competitive 2019 encounter that earned them Fight of the Night honors. “He has been a long time in this game, and now he improved on the defensive wrestling.

“He was completely a striker, but now he knows how to defend, how to get up from the bottom, but I think my level of wrestling is a different level and I can maul him on the ground.

“It’s gonna show who is No. 1 contender,” he added. “He’s on a winning streak, he beat [Mateusz] Gamrot last fight, and he has a pretty good name; everybody knows him. He had good fights and for me, it’s good to do a warm-up before the big show.”

As much as Saturday’s main event is a chance for fight fans to watch Tsarukyan compete for the first time in nearly 600 days — 589 to be exact — returning to the fray is also exciting to the top-ranked contender.

Though he was slowed a little at the start of the year following the injury that forced him out of his championship opportunity at UFC 311, Tsarukyan has ostensibly been in camp, training, preparing, developing for the last 19 months — an unheard of amount of time for a top-tier talent to be able to focus on improving and sharpening their weapons, rather than strictly remaining in shape and readying for the next assignment.

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“I feel my body is getting better every day and I learned some new techniques,” Tsarukyan said of the extended amount of time he’s been able to train and improve between appearances. “I’m not in my prime yet because every camp, I’m getting better.

“This fight is gonna show my level and I’m so excited. I can’t wait to show everybody and to see where my level is right now. I fought one year and a half [ago] and I want to see where my level is because I got better.

“Hard work always pays off — I believe that and that’s why I train every day,” he added. “I sacrifice, I try to be professional everywhere in the training, in life, and I feel like if you wanna be a champion, you’ve gotta believe in yourself, that you’re the best in this game.

“I know I’m the best and [proving] it just takes time.”

This weekend in Doha, Tsarukyan gets the opportunity to bring himself one step closer to potentially proving he’s the best lightweight in the UFC. While nothing has been officially stated and there is no word yet on when the champion will compete next or who he will face, it’s difficult not to think that a dominant showing from the entrenched top contender against Hooker would make him an obvious candidate for a championship opportunity in the front half of next year.

“That’s my goal,” Tsarukyan answered when asked if he was focused on fighting for the title next with a victory over Hooker. “My plan is to go to Qatar, get the victory, get the finish to show everybody we’re in different levels, and to get my fight for the title as soon as possible.”

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So how does he see himself getting the job done?

“It’s a five-round fight, and I haven’t fought in a long time, that’s why I’m gonna try to get my distance, feel what he wants to do, find my range; do some boxing, wrestling, kicks, just to feel the Octagon in the first round.

“In the third round, I’ll try to finish him,” he added. “Maybe the second round.”